Introduction

As part of the U.K.—Scandinavian Surface Waters Acidification Programme, catchment basins were selected to study the hydrological and hydrochemical consequences of surface water acidification. The purpose of this paper is to indicate why different catchments have been selected, their geographical location in relation to anthropogenic deposition loadings, and to describe in detail the nature of the collaborative research done and the equipment used.

Four main institutes were involved in the planning and execution of the research programme: they were; the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI), the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory (FFL), the Institute of Hydrology (IH) and Imperial College (IC). Other collaborating institutes were Stirling University (SU) and the Forth River Purification Board (FRPB). The identifiers shown in parentheses will be used throughout the text to identify the specific institute involved in any particular area of field research. The field research programme was initiated in late 1985 and continued until mid-1989 in all the Scottish sites.

Instrumentation and equipment for routine and experimental studies were designed to fulfil the four main research objectives.

1. What are the factors, in addition to pH, that determine the fisheries status of surface waters?

2. What are the biological, chemical and hydrological characteristics of catchments that determine whether the composition of surface waters falls within a range acceptable for fish?[…]